PURPOSE: To hold the plane shape of a protective tape for a wafer easily, to enable automatic application and to prevent the cracking of the wafer on back- side grinding by forming the applying surface side of the protective tape by the quality of a material abounding in comparative flexibility and shaping the reverse surface side by the quality of a material abounding in comparative rigidity.

CONSTITUTION: A soft film 2 on the applying surface side on which adhesives 1 are applied is made of a material, such as a rubber, vinyl chloride, etc. abounding in comparative flexibility, and a hard film 3 is manufactured by a material, such as polyester, acryl, etc. abounding in comparative rigidity. The soft film 2 and the hard film 3 are cladded, thus constituting a protective tape for a wafer. Consequently, the plane shape of the protective tape is held easily by the rigidity of the hard film 3, thus allowing automatic application by a machine. The irregularities of the surface of the wafer can be absorbed sufficiently by the flexibility of the soft film 2, thus preventing the cracking of the wafer without applying large strain to the wafer on back grinding.